Discount Driver

The Problem Texting while driving is costly to yourself and

your community Up to 330,000 people injured5, 178 killed in one

year thanks to cell phone use1 175 billion in damages from distracted driving in one year

Major problem for both society and insurance companies

Current Solutions Utah law prohibits use of cellphone while car is

moving2 Cellphones laws don’t reduce usage; they actually increase it3

Allows for handsfree conversations, which reduces reaction times to that of drunk drivers4 Self control to not use phone: 80% of teens admit to using cellphone while driving4

Our Solution: Individual Application

Discount Driver is an innovative app to that deters phone use while driving by rewarding good drivers with discounts to local businesses

Drivers would receive points only if entire drive is phone free. Point quantity would be based on length of journey

Would use GPS as well as close-proximity sensors (NFC) mounted in the glovebox to ensure the driver wasn’t using their phone

Could be used by concerned parents to track their child's phone use

NFC Sensors:

Our Solution: Insurance Companies

Discount Driver would be used by insurance companies to prove that a driver was or wasn’t on their phone at the time of accident

Would be used to reduce insurance rates in response to consistent good behavior

Using NFC sensors mounted in the car gives Discount Driver the unique advantage of being able to track the drivers behavior whenever their in the car, while not tracking them while their on public transportation or catching a ride

The Customer

Drivers who want to get rewarded for doing their part to make the roads safer

Drivers who struggle with phone usage while driving, who think they can answer that “one” text at the red light but can’t quite finish it and then rear-end you making you late to your Calculus test

Parent’s who are concerned about the safety of their kids and property

Insurance companies looking to reduce cost of accidents (175 billion per year caused by cellphone use)

The Solution: Feasibility and Competion

Drivers Insurance Side• Pocket points, inspiration for

Discount Driver, gives discounts for not using phones in class. Its wide reception, with both businesses offering discounts and students earning them, proves the feasibility of a coupon incentive system.

• Many insurance companies have apps that lower rates based on driving habits. These apps have bad reception, however. According to Allstate agent Lisa Eshleman, this is because consumers dislike “big brother” tracking

• Consumer dislike can be solved through coupon incentive (shifting decision to run app from insurance company to individual)

• Discount Driver, through use of NFC sensors, allows insurance companies to differentiate phone usage between driver and passenger, enabling them to change rates based on phone usage. This feature is unique and not part of any existing insurance company apps.

• 3 insurance agents that were consulted agreed it was a terrific idea

Prototype 1• All prototypes in alpha and not representative of

final project• Home screen: Would show the current points

earned on the most recent drive and total points• Meters would adjust based on how many points the

user had• Hamburger menu in top left would allow user to

navigate app

Prototype 2• Hamburger menus options

Prototype 3• Main menu for Rewards. From here, users could

select what shop they’d like to redeem their reward to.

• From the shop page, it would show different possible coupons and their cost in points. Users would buy these rewards with their driving points, and then receive a special code they can use at checkout

• Different categories allow for easy navigation

Prototype 4• Insurance screen would display information relative

to the users insurance company. Because of this, each insurance page would differ between companies.

• All companies would include value saved, so the user can have an easy incentive to continue use of the app

Prototype 5• About us and help page would provide the user

with information about our app, our message, and how to use the app

• Additionally, statistics relating to texting while driving will be placed here

The Nitty-Gritty

The app would work by connecting the phone to the NFC sensor in a car, validating the phone is one of the accepted owner phones of the car, and then use GPS data to track when the car starts moving to when it finishes moving. A NFC sensor would be attached in the glovebox securely enough to prevent it from being moved by the driver. If moved, a seal would be broken that proves this. While connected to NFC and GPS, the phone will register and jumps in the accelerometer, the time they occurred, and whether the phone was locked in the glovebox. This is used to track accidents. To prevent the phone from registering that its locked when the user isn’t actually driving, the phone will only connect to specified cars sensors.

References

1. https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/812013

2. https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title41/Chapter6A/41-6a-S1716.html3. https://trid.trb.org/view.aspx?id=9819774. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3710028/5. https://www.edgarsnyder.com/car-accident/cause-of-accident/cel

l-phone/cell-phone-statistics.html